Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.

Time Commitment:

Contact Hours: 1 one-hour lecture per week, 1 one-hour “NetShop” innovative student experience per week. This will take one of the following forms per week: panel, interview, video, film, demonstration, podcast, and so forth. 1 one-hour tutorial per week. 1 one-hour lab per week. (OPTIONAL) Total Time Commitment:

Estimated total time commitment of 120 hours

Prerequisites:

None

Corequisites:

None

Recommended Background Knowledge:

None

Non Allowed Subjects:

None

Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Coordinator

Prof Steve Howard

Contact

The internet is now a familiar part of everyday life. But what exactly is the Internet? What is it used for? And how is it implicated in the transformation of society, culture, community and even our own sense of identity? This subject examines these and other critical questions in exploring the complex interplay between the technical and social dimensions of the internet. Among the topics we cover here are the emergence of new forms of media culture, art, and commerce online, the nature and limitations of virtual communities and the implications for personal identity and intimacy, and the complex legal, ethical, and political issues which arise through activity on the internet. Tutorials and lectures will equip students with the knowledge needed to critically appraise the interrelations between the internet and society, and laboratories will be used to build basic technical skills. Students taking this subject will also have “hands-on” experience in participating in an online community.

Objectives:

On completion of the subject graduates should:

Possess a critical understanding of the Internet as more than a technical phenomenon, but as a socially transformative and disruptive phenomenon

Be able to provide a multi-disciplinary account of the interplay between technical and social phenomena

Understand the broader ethical, social and legal implications of the Internet

Appreciate the open questions that remain in relation to, and conflicting theoretical accounts of, widespread Internet adoption and use

Experience participation in an online community

Assessment:

Compulsory participation in both on-line forums and in tutorials (20%) of which 10% is peer review and 10% is tutor assessed participation based on presence, quality, insight and constructiveness (a detailed template will be provided to students). This assessment will take place throughout the semester, on a week-by-week basis.

Two written assignments of 40% each. Students choose 2 out of 3 assignment options, each of which is equivalent in difficulty and required effort.

Each assignment is worth 40%, 2000 word equivalent per assignment

Students can choose to complete all three assignments, with the two highest scoring assignments counted towards their final grade.

The first of the assignments will be due mid-semester, and the second at the completion of the semester.

Prescribed Texts:

There are no prescribed texts for this subject. Students will be given a reading pack, and extensive use of on-line resources will be made.

Breadth Options:

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses: